He entered pre-med school in '64 and then, three years later, he entered med school at Medical College of Virginia. He loved to go and visit the hospital patients. He would make them laugh and do the funniest antics around them. His professors did not like his behavior, probably because of its uniqueness and non-seriousness.

Patch went on to start making his one dream into a reality. He believed that the medical system was twisted and that it cheated poor people. So, he decided that he wanted to build a hospital. But his dream was for a hospital back home in West Virginia, where he would prove his methods in day-to-day practice. At the Gesundheit Institute, as he calls it, doctors would work for peanuts, and patients would never be billed. After much fund-raising, his dream started to become a reality. His Gesundheit Institute is not completely perfected, but it is up and running. One person said of the Institute: "There, amongst beautiful mountains, hardwood forests and waterfalls, Gesundheit advocates are constructing a wholistic rural hospital and healthcare community based on the vision of what healthcare should be like. That means patient care where laughter, joy and creativity will be an integral part of the healing process. Healthcare will be provided without cost and doctors will carry no malpractice insurance. Doctors and patients will relate to each other on the basis of mutual trust, and patients will receive plenty of time from their doctors. Allopathic doctors and practitioners of alternative medicine will work side by side." Although he does not run it anymore, he still talks about it and tries to raise money for it.

Patch's theory on healing is definitely different. He believes that laughter is the best cure. He loves to go from hospital to hospital making people laugh and teaching regular doctors how to be funny for their patients. He "thinks every doctor should be a heart specialist -- a merry heart, that is."

Patch could be considered the most useful clown of the century. He uses his clown-like attitude for good. He has helped people feel and/or get better, he has stopped fights in the streets by just walking around acting and looking like a clown, and he has made an unforgettable impression on many. He is so compassionate and has never once had to give one of his patients a tranquilizer or psychiatric medication. Silliness is one of his virtues and he thinks that every doctor should possess it.

Hunter "Patch" Adams has been a physician for nearly 30 years, but he has been a clown for almost 40. He lives to make people laugh and feel good. He says that he is looking for a world where love will no longer be extraordinary, and he thinks that the role of a clown and a physician are the same: "to elevate the possible and to relieve suffering." Patch has been to many different countries with his clowns, trying to work his charms on the many different patients and underprivileged people of all shapes and sizes. He says that living in clown clothes is his gift to a world that he thinks is depressed, lonely, and lacking compassion.

Since he started his expedition to raise money for the Gesundheit Institute, he has written two books, Gesundheit: Good Health is a Laughing Matter and House Calls. In 1994, he won the Institute of Noetic Sciences Award for Creative Altruism. He has come a long way in his dream of the Gesundheit Institute and he has become well-known through his movie, "Patch Adams."